The Age of Napoleon Podcast

The summer of 1808 saw desperate fighting across Iberia as Spanish and Portuguese patriots rose up against Napoleon. France's most powerful enemy, Great Britain, sought to take advantage.

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The Spanish uprising was a disaster for France. Napoleon tried to shore up his diplomatic situation but found himself undermined by a surprising new enemy. Cameo appearances by José de San Martín and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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In the spring of 1808, Napoleon said he considered Spain conquered. That summer, Spanish forces dealt France its first major battlefield defeat in nearly a decade. How did Spain manage this stunning reversal? 

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I recently recorded a collaboration with Will Clark of Grey History: the French Revolution.

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In the Spring of 1808, Napoleon installed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. However, the people of Madrid had had enough of the French, and took matters into their own hands.

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With Portugal conquered, Napoleon turned his attention to Spain. As French troops began occupying the country, it soon became clear they were sitting on a political powder keg. 

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1807 saw Napoleon and the British jockeying for influence among the remaining neutral states of Europe. Average people paid the price for this competition.

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In 1808, France would find itself in a new war on the Iberian Peninsula. How did Napoleon find himself engaged in a new war less than a year after the Treaty of Tilsit?

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By 1808, the Napoleonic empire stretched from Poland to the Pyrenees, and from the North Sea to the southern tip of Italy. How was Europe adjusting to Napoleon's new order?

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By 1809, Napoleon had ruled France for a decade. How did the Napoleonic regime actually function? How could one person effectively exercise his will over half a continent?

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